Related Links

Editor's Introduction: Communities and Synagogues

What place does the synagogue occupy in present-day Jewish life? This issue of Sh'ma offers a wide range of views about the future of the synagogue. At a time of declining institutional affiliation (except among the Orthodox) and a growing list of questions--including what it means to "belong," what relationship one has to authority, and how to create sacred communities for ends other than ritual--the once-hegemonic synagogue is facing a challenging future that demands redefinition.